Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What fascinated me about the Burren project, in which officials such as Dr. Andy Bleasdale of the National Parks and Wildlife Service were involved, was that it designed a scheme that ensured the end product met the objectives of the heritage ambition. As stated by Mr. Fitzgerald the best people to look after this are the people who have been curators of it for generations. The same baseline should apply in terms of our work on this scheme. We can end this discussion today by offering some hope. We must see this through. I would like to assure the delegates that this committee will work on this issue. There is a willingness among members to come up with a commonsense proposal that is practical and can work. At the end of the day the hen harrier still exists. It has been around for many generations and farming practices. Without wishing to be patronising, the people who understand it best are the people who always have stood side by side with it. The aspiration must be that man and the relevant species of the area can co-exist. There is no point one making the other extinct.

Is the committee agreed on what has been proposed?